Chris Jooste collected the biggest victory of his career at the Tshwane Classic road cycling race in Pretoria on Sunday.

The 98km feature event, which started and finished at the Voortrekker Monument, saw around 4 000 participants line up for the inaugural event, which passed many of the city’s major attractions.

Chris Jooste of Luso Cycling wins! Images - www.cyclenation.co.za

Jooste, who lined up alongside pro teams such as BCX and RoadCover, said he took advantage of being a “no-name” brand.

“I didn’t really know what to expect but I knew my legs were good so I just went to try my luck today,” said the 22-year-old Kliprivier resident.

“As it was the first event, nobody really knew what to expect,” said the Gauteng U23 road and time-trial champion.

“We definitely didn’t expect it to be such a windy day out on the highway. That made a big difference.”

The Luso Africa Cycling Club rider said he used the early stages of the race to settle in and read the race until he and RoadCover’s Bradley Potgieter, ProTouch’s Pieter Seyffert and four others set off to catch two riders who had broken away roughly 40km in.

They caught the pair shortly before the first major ascent and together the growing group started climbing to the finish.
“Coming into the last 30km it gets tougher and tougher,” explained Jooste. “When we started the first climb, going over the ridge, I put in some effort and split up the group.”

Then, on the Tom Jenkins climb, roughly 87km into the race, he decided it was now or never and put in a final effort to try and distance himself from his fellow escapees.

“At the top I had about 100m on them and I just had to keep pushing until the end,” said Jooste, who collected the white jersey for best young rider after placing fourth overall at the Mpumalanga Tour in January.

He crossed the line in 2:12:57, a minute ahead of ProTouch’s Jaydé Julius and Dimension Data’s Kent Main, who won the Tour of Good Hope earlier this year.

Jayde Julius of Pro Touch the best of the chase group.

“I always go to a race to do my best so it’s wonderful to get this result,” said Jooste. “I never expected coming here to win so it’s definitely a great feeling.”

The RoadCover cycling team just missed out on the podium with Clint Hendricks in fourth position in the uphill run to the finish. Brad Potgeieter had been in the early escape with Jooste, but lost contact over the climb of Tom Jenkins. Willie Smit also punctured in the run up to the climb which took him out of contention as well.

The top five on the podium.

Final Results:

1. Chris Jooste (Luso Cycling) 2:12:56

2. Jayde Julius (Pro Touch) 2:13:49

3. Kent Main (Dimension Data Conti) 2:13:49

4. Clint Hendricks (RoadCover Cycling team) 2:13:49

5. Luthando Kaka (Rand Water Trans Net) 2:13:51

Junior winners:

1. Brendan Havenga (Officeguru.co.za) 2:14:50

2. Callum Ormiston (Infinita) 2:14:51

3. Ricardo Broxham (ProTouch) 2:14:51

Brendan Havenga on the left, with his Officeguru team-mates Alex Worsdale and Kieran Mckenna